Revels with a cause at Stockwell Cellars

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Revels with a cause at Stockwell Cellars

As with many local wineries, Stockwell Cellars owners Eric Stockwell and his wife Suzanne Zeber-Stockwell are generous supporters of community events and fundraisers. For instance, a Hospice of Santa Cruz County mixer was held in Stockwell’s spacious tasting room recently. Wines were available for tasting and everybody had a good time. Stockwell’s huge space is also available for private functions.

After sampling several wines, I came home with a lovely bottle of Stockwell Cellars 2021 Rosé of Zinfandel ($30). “The wine pours a soft sunset orange in the glass and has enticing aromas of spun sugar and young nectarine,” say the Stockwells. This engaging rosé comes with a clean and lasting finish of ruby grapefruit. A suggested pairing is baguette with honey-drizzled fresh peach and herbed goat cheese. Sounds delish!

Got a Stockwell growler? You can buy one for $15 and get refills of one of their four wines on tap for $20. Choose from pinot gris, rosé of grenache, pinot noir and merlot.

Good wine, live music, trivia nights, food trucks and fun—it’s all there at Stockwell Cellars. And Friday evenings are a blast. Upcoming happenings are listed on the website.

They have some cool swag, too. Check out the T-shirts, fleece blankets, hats and market bag totes with leather handles.

Stockwell Cellars, 1100 Fair Ave., Santa Cruz, 831-818-9075. Stockwellcellars.com

Welcome to the West Side

Start early with coffee at Cat & Cloud, then get your participation card stamped as you taste at Equinox Sparkling Wines, Sones Cellars, Santa Cruz Mountain Winery, Santa Cruz Mountain Brewing and West End Tap & Kitchen—all Swift Street Courtyard businesses that have come together for a fun day on April 20.

Letters

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Letters

PERMISSION TO DANCE

Thank you for posting this. Finally someone is saying something. From what I have gathered, it seems like the city is unwilling to consider this an issue for their community even though they’re taking money from multiple businesses trying to go through the proper channels for live music permitting…like any responsible business owner who should have the right to at least a conversation.

Live music is and has been a huge part of Santa Cruz culture and is an attraction for many people not only during the summer tourist months.

Additionally, the median age of Santa Cruz is going down. Newcomers want to enjoy what nature Santa Cruz has to offer while also having something fun to do past 10pm on a weekend. Can’t wait to see how all those new apartments down on Pacific do once all these young adults learn there’s a 10pm curfew and the only place with music and dancing allowed are two massive music venues with generally non chill vibes.

Sinead | GoodTimes.sc

MUSIC SHUT DOWN

I run the 11th hour open mic, and last year we got a super small outdoor stage, no dancing, just local up and coming musicians who want to practice and we still got shut down. Even on beautiful summer days we now need to do it inside, which is crazy. Our weekly open mic every Wed starts at 6:30 and has a hard stop by 9, and it isn’t even that loud. It’s ridiculous that we can’t support our local arts scene.

BC | GoodTimes.sc

EVEN TRIVIA SHUT DOWN?

I have run the trivia night at 11th Hour downtown for the past 1.5 years, which is once a week from 7-9pm. No music, no dancing, just dozens of happy, peaceful Santa Cruz residents answering trivia questions I read into a microphone each week with a little applause and cheering.

One very angry neighbor shouting and berating staff and threatening us nearly shut the whole thing down for all of us. How does one “no” vote cancel out hundreds of “yes” votes for these events?

 We get that real estate is expensive, so only older people tend to be able to afford it and expect peace and quiet for their “investment.” But it also turns the town into a bit of a retirement community while pushing out young people who want to have community and culture and vibrancy.

ED | GoodTimes.sc

The Editor’s Desk

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The Editor’s Desk
Santa Cruz California editor of good times news media print and web
Brad Kava | Good Times Editor

Let me introduce our newest column, “Take a Hike with Richard Stockton,” which will introduce locals and tourists to great places to explore and walk through. Richard is a crazy hiker, who among other trail blazing, has hiked the coast from Santa Cruz to the Golden Gate Bridge and back three times with his hiking buddies. He’s also explored the woods and the backwoods and will give you the best tips to follow along.

We’ll run it online weekly and in the paper sporadically. Hike on, dudes.

And make sure to check out the article by Dan Emerson about Donny McCaslin. He put on one of the best concerts I saw last year, a real shocker because he did things on the sax I’ve never heard before. No wonder David Bowie fell in love with this Aptos High grad. He’s another true trailblazer.

Most of us take breathing for granted. I mean, it happens all the time. However, it’s become an important focus in the world of wellness. Our wellness writer, Elizabeth Borelli, has written a book on breathing called Breathe into Breakthrough.

“At its core, breathwork is simply intentional breathing, where practitioners focus on the rate, depth, and rhythm of their breath to influence their state of being consciously,” she writes in her column this week. Do me a favor: if this helps you breakthrough, drop us a line at ed****@*****ys.com and let others know about your experience.

Don’t miss our Health & Garden section in this issue, not just for excellent tips by Jillian Steinberger but for my article about bird feeders with built-in bird feeders. That invention has given me so much joy. I wonder what you think.

That section also has stories about high schoolers learning to plant by Mathew Chipman and one about about growing weeds by Richard Stockton. Well, one weed in particular.

We also cover the local TEDx in this issue, with a series of speakers on social justice and diversity. It’s sold out, so you’ll have to read this story by Josué Monroy to learn about it.

Thanks for reading.

Brad Kava | Editor

Photo Contest

ANCHOR AWAY This photo was taken at the East Cliff Harbor, on the wharf by the lighthouse. Photograph by Deborah Gorlin

Good Idea

 April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month and a time to put safety in the driver’s seat. Santa Cruz Police Department will be actively looking for drivers throughout the month who are in violation of the state’s hands-free cell phone law.

In 2021, there were at least 140 people killed in distracted driving traffic crashes. Under current law, drivers are not allowed to hold a phone or electronic communications device while operating a vehicle, even when stopped at a red light. Using a handheld cell phone while driving is punishable by a fine and violating the hands-free law a second time within 36 months of a prior conviction for the same offense will result in a point being added to a driver’s record.

Good Work

Santa Cruz has just become the second city in the country to require female and male athletes to be paid the same amount in local competitions. That means surfing, skateboarding, running, walking, disc golfing….you name it. You come here with a contest, you pay equally. Surfers Rachel Kippen and Sabrina Brennan got the ball rolling for equality after an O’Neill competition offered men 10 times more money than women. Parks and Recreation’s Mike Murray brought the ordinance in front of the City Council, even wearing a sports jacket to do it. Half Moon Bay beat us to it, but others are looking to follow, including governing bodies in Hawaii.

If only Congress would require everyone to pay equally! We salute our local officials for taking a big step.

Quote of the week

“There is no tool for development more effective than the empowerment of women.”–Kofi Annan

Breathing Your Way to Health and Wellness

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Breathing Your Way to Health and Wellness

Recently a local magazine published a feature titled “Breathing your Way to Happiness.” The subtitle read “breath work, an ancient discipline becomes mainstream.”

Calling breathwork mainstream may be a stretch, but interest in the subject as a stress reduction practice emerged from relative obscurity in 2020, thanks to two unlikely New York Times bestsellers. James Nestor’s Breath; The New Science of a Lost Art and The Wim Hof Method, describing the Ice Man’s daily routine for superhuman achievement.

The timing for DIY reduction mid-pandemic was perfect, inspiring interest among wellness professionals in need of more robust tools and resources. In 2022, my book Breathe into Breakthrough hit the shelves, based on my own transformative experience and research into these practices. It also prompted an email to Valerie Moselle, former owner of Luma Yoga, after learning she authored a book on the subject before it gained widespread attention.

Moselle’s Breathwork: A Three-Week Breathing Program to Gain Clarity, Calm, and Better Health was published by Simon & Schuster in 2019, offering invaluable insights into the practice. In exploring the Santa Cruz breathwork scene, I once again sought her expertise. But first, let’s lay the groundwork by exploring the basics of breathwork.

At its core, breathwork is simply intentional breathing, where practitioners focus on the rate, depth and rhythm of their breath to influence their state of being consciously. By scrutinizing default breathing patterns and their impact on mood and sleep, individuals gain invaluable insights into their holistic well-being.

Despite its mystical allure, breathwork is firmly rooted in scientific research. However, the abundance of techniques available can be overwhelming for newcomers. To navigate this diverse terrain, let’s explore some local styles of breathwork and the practitioners who guide enthusiasts on their transformative journey.

The most common and ancient breathwork practice is pranayama. Originating from the earliest yoga traditions, this series of controlled breathing exercises is used to regulate the flow of prana, or life force energy, in the body. Techniques such as breath retention, rapid, shallow breathing and alternate nostril breathing are commonly used to calm the mind and balance the nervous system. This method is commonly taught in local yoga studios either as a short segment or throughout the class.

Inner Axis Breathing is a series of standing techniques followed by one of two seated transformational breathwork techniques developed by international expert Max Strom. Valerie describes the hour-long sessions as quite stimulating: “It tends to help us access emotions we may need to process such as anger and grief, and is always followed with a reclined guided visualization and rest for post-practice integration.”

Valerie teaches pranayama along with Inner Axis breathing and ReSourcing Breathwork, which she explains is “a set of simple breathwork and visualization techniques that cultivate what might be referred to as a ‘resourced’ state of being—calm, clear, alert, sensitive, empathetic, easeful.”

Naomi Wilder teaches Kundalini, an ancient practice stemming from the yoga tradition. This technique uses conscious control and manipulation of the breath to awaken the Kundalini energy believed to reside at the base of the spine.

Kundalini breathwork is often accompanied by movement, mantra chanting and meditation. These techniques are designed to activate and balance the flow of energy within the body, clearing blockages and facilitating a deeper connection to the self.

Naomi has also developed a method she calls Infinity Breath, which she teaches as an online course with students from all over the world. Each session consists of a curated 9-minute breathwork sequence Wilder says is enough to set awareness each morning to boost energy and set the day’s focus.

Whether one is seeking stress relief, spiritual growth or physical health improvement, breathwork beckons individuals to embark on a transformative journey toward holistic well-being.

Valerie Moselle, valeriemoselle.com

Naomi Wilder, breathandoneness.com

41st Ocean Breakfast and Grill

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41st Ocean Breakfast and Grill

MADE FROM SCRATCH 41st Ocean’s chicken fried steak. Photo: Tarmo Hannula

A family-run diner located on the north end of its namesake avenue, 41st Ocean Breakfast and Grill opened six months ago captained by general manager Gil Mendoza.

Mendoza’s uncle, a general contractor, leased the space and built it out; Mendoza’s task was to get the place off the ground, leaning on his 12-year industry experience. Mendoza says he combines vintage diner feel with beachy décor and a menu of traditional American breakfasts with Italian and Mexican-influenced lunches.

Breakfasts feature classic omelets, as well as biscuits and gravy, eggs benedict and chicken fried steak. Specials include menudo and breakfast burritos. For lunch, the burgers are juicy and customizable, and some of the best sandwiches are the BLT, barbecue chicken and calamari steak. There is also  ravioli with red meat sauce and pesto and calamari. Open every day from 8am-2pm; dinner service is just beginning with options like Saturday night tacos.

Tell me about your industry journey?

GIL MENDOZA: I’m a typical Santa Cruz kid. My first job was at the Boardwalk, and I became a store lead at 16. After that, I worked at a pizza place and worked my way up to manager and eventually multi-store manager. I’ve also worked at multiple large-chain coffee retailers. All this experience has taught me time management as well as how to work with and manage a team. And most importantly, keep my cool and not go crazy when problems arise, which they always do in the industry.

What’s next for the restaurant?

GM: We are currently working on changing our lunch menu by adding more burger and sandwich options, as well as some new pasta dishes. We are also planning to add some new items to our breakfast menu such as a veggie benedict. And some customers from Texas gave us the idea to add cheese and grilled onions to our potatoes, which they say is a big thing there.

2623 41st Avenue, Soquel, 831-316-7021; 41stoceangrill.com

West Peak Sparkling Spirits

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West Peak Sparkling Spirits

Martinis in Calcutta. Ouzo in Cypress. Ales in Tasmania. Single malts on the Orkney islands.

A number of elements helped launch the surprising local brand that is West Peak Sparkling Spirits, an antidote to a hard seltzer market dominated by Big Beverage.

But to hear Santa Cruz mom and pop behind the canned cocktails tell it, itinerant drinking lies at the heart of their efforts.

“Each can…is an inspired cocktail that will transport you to bars, dance halls, and cantinas across the globe,” they write on the website. “We believe life is…a calling for adventure.”

For Jamie and Nick Sanyal, it also helped that they spent careers in corporate marketing and supply chain logistics with the likes of Tradin Organics, SunOpta and Moss Landing’s Sweet Earth Natural Foods, learning how to develop what Nick calls “a category challenger.”

From there they observed two things. One, beer was making them feel sluggish. Two, the seltzers and canned cocktails on the market left something to be desired as far as taste and packaging.

“Not just the liquid, but from a branding perspective, the tall white skinny cans void of personality didn’t feel right,” Nick says. “We realized a brand that captured the energy and uniqueness of Santa Cruz would be embraced by like-minded people up and down the coast and beyond.”

West Peak’s four flavors—Palo Madre Paloma (my go-to of the group), Fathom Falls Cooler, Saddle Creek Spritz and a Buscadero Bay Punch—clock in at 6% ABV, and enjoy a balance between effervescence and fruit with a legit spirits backbone.

The result is neither seltzer or cocktail, and a nice alternative in other ways, too.

“People know the beverage industry is mostly dominated by corporate and celebrity-owned brands,” Jamie says. What most people find surprising is that a small family-owned company such as ours is starting to break through.”

drinkwestpeak.com

YES PLEASE
Hook & Line (105 Walnut Ave., Santa Cruz) aims to open in the former Soif as soon as Thursday, April 11. Chef Santos Majano and business partner Leija Borovac have reinvented the look and feel with a more integrated bar area, added seats and a 15-seat parklet. The bar will do a few craft cocktails, and sustainable seafood will shine on the menu, in keeping with the name. Preliminary menus feature hot smoked trout, wild striped bass, halibut ceviche, marinated scallops, slow-cooked whole snapper and a raw bar, instagram.com/eathookandline.

CLASSY CLASSES
From the Education is Tasty File: “The Perfect Pair: A Cabrillo Culinary and Wine Showcase” unfurls April 27 courtesy of Cabrillo College Culinary Arts department and wineries from the Santa Cruz Mountains. First the historic Sesnon House hosts two wine tutorials (“Sensory Evaluation” and “Taste the Terroir”) led by Deborah Parker Wong, global wine editor for The Tasting Panel and professor of Wine Studies at Cabrillo College. Then comes a “walk-around tasting, wherein, keeping with the theme, 11 teams of students pair with 11 wines by SCM wineries try to pull off the best complementary combos, all benefitting Cabrillo College Foundation, winesofthesantacruzmountains.com.

PROGRESS IS REAL

The rescheduled Cesar Chavez Day of Service with Homeless Garden Project is 9:30am-2pm this Sunday, April 14, homelessgardenproject.org/…Cal Native Plant Society, Santa Cruz County Chapter works its healing magic with your help at Quail Hollow Habitat Restoration, 10am-1pm April 20, message Linda Brodman, re*****@*****ll.net…Santa Cruz Permaculture has all sorts of cool stuff going on, including a Herbalism & Medicine-Making course beginning April 13, and its Strawberry Festival at the SCP Farm on Highway 1 in Davenport Saturday, May 18—face painting, scavenger hunt, farm tours, strawberry shortcake and parfait, strawberry lemonade, persimmon lassi, quinoa veggie bowls, and other farm goodies for sale, $5/adult, $1/kids, https://santacruzpermaculture.com.

Take a Hike with Richard Stockton

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Take a Hike with Richard Stockton

The French supercentenarian Jeanne Louise Calment was not just alive at 122, she thrived.

 “I’ve only got one wrinkle and I’m sitting on it,” she said.

Today I hike with my French connection Laurence Bedford, songwriter Rick Zeek and our El Jefe, the 85-year-old Sleepy John Sandidge.

Sleepy John says, “Dying is not an option. I don’t have the budget.” Sleepy John is a hiking inspiration to celebrate age pride. He says, “Aging is not contagious, everyone’s got it.”

Rio del Mar Trail, get your Vitamin Sea

This is a beach walk, and you’ll appreciate it if you remember to bring shades or a hat. The sun gives life, and it takes it away. I used to wear sunblock to keep from getting wrinkled. Now I wear sunblock to keep from looking homeless.

Synchronicity strikes when my three boys decide to hike the Rio del Mar Beach, because I follow the shenanigans of the Rio del Mar Homeowners Association, who have illegally blocked off the public path in front of their rental houses so they can advertise that they offer a private beach. We park in the free parking spaces in front of The Pixie Deli.

I always thought that as I aged, I would become more of an activist. Turns out I just get crankier. My tee shirt should say, “I’m flabby on the outside, crabby on the inside.” Friedrich Nietzsche said that hiking is a political act. Today his idea turns out to be a little too on the nose.

We start walking south, right past the disputed public walkway that the Rio del Mar HOA is trying to rip off. The rental houses look empty, we’re the only ones on the path. The boys walk ahead of me and then head to the surf. I’m meandering along the pathway, snapping photos of the erosion from the last flood, taking pictures of the real estate rental signs. I hear someone behind me.

“Who are you?”

I turn to see a well-dressed, 60-something lady. She is livid. Eyes red. She hisses,

“Who are you?”

“Oh. Hi. I’m Richard Stockton.” I extend my hand.

She does not look at my hand. She steps closer.

 “Who are you?”

I am pretty sure I had covered that but get the idea she means something different. She takes a step closer.

“Who are you and what do you think you’re doing here?”

“I’m walking on a public path.”

“This is a private path. That’s why there are barriers.”

“You mean the barriers that the California Coastal Commission ordered the HOA to take down. Why do you think you can deny my use of this path?”

“It’s in the judgment.”

Of course. My new Karen friend is talking about a 2022 civil court ruling that said the City of Santa Cruz does not own the path. However, as Lisa Haage of the Coastal Commission pointed out, “It’s not relevant who owns the walkway.”

Indeed, since the California Coastal Act of 1972, the Coastal Commission has the state-mandated power to make sure everyone has access to the beach. I attended that December 14,2023 Commission hearing when the board adopted all five resolutions by the staff by unanimous vote and ordered the Rio del Mar HOA to cease and desist with the encroachment of the pathway and pay $4.8 million in penalties.

My Karen snaps, “Where do you live?”

“I live in Santa Cruz. Where do you live?”

She takes a deep breath and steps back. Of course, she’s an out-of-town investor.

“So, you don’t live here.”

“I am an owner.”

“And you’re mad that I’m using this public pathway.”

“It’s not public. What are you doing here?”

“I write for Good Times Weekly Santa Cruz.”

She flinches and takes a step back. I am emboldened.

“I’m just doing my job… to report why you think I can’t walk here.”

“It’s in the judgment.”

“OK. I’m sure you want me to disappear, but we both know that’s not going to happen. What should I do here? How do you want me to do my job?”

She takes another step back, her lips tight, fists clenched.

“Read the judgment.”

“I have read the court’s judgment, and it does not refute the Coastal Commission’s authority to keep this path open. If you really believe that I am trespassing, let’s call the police.”

I hold up my phone. The woman glowers, spins away and stomps off.

When I catch up with the boys, they ask me who my new friend is. We discuss how the mechanics of capitalism works to take away our very access to the ocean. We have been pushed to the left edge of America, as far as we can go. We have no choice, this is where we make our stand. This beach is our Normandy.

I say, “But I will not denigrate the intelligence of the Rio del Mar housing investors who claim that the California state beach access law does not apply to them. Denigrate means ‘to put down.’”

Laurence Bedford gets excited about investigating the people who own these rental houses and we form a detective agency. That night Laurence texts me that of every house owner he has tracked so far, none lives in Santa Cruz.

Things to do in Santa Cruz

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Things to do in Santa Cruz

THURSDAY

SOUL

ORGONE

Orgone is a band that has been around forever because they’re so good at what they do. On tour for the release of their latest album, Chimera, they bring the funk to every song—most of which are instrumental jams. There’s something mythological happening on this album, with one track titled after a legendary creature (“Basilisk”), a collaborator named Mermans Mosengo and the title itself named after a lion-goat-serpent hybrid. Chimeras comprise many disparate animal parts, which is a perfect metaphor for this band and the music they create. It’s the stuff of legends! JESSICA IRISH

INFO: 9pm, Moe’s Alley, 1535 Commercial Way, Santa Cruz. $25/adv, $30/door. 479-1854.

FRIDAY

AUTHOR EVENT

ERNEST CLINE
Genuine connection is challenging but necessary when one has constant access to a virtual world of escapism. It’s a struggle Ernest Cline explored in his hit sci-fi Ready Player One. Now, Cline’s plumbing the depths of connection again in his latest middle-grade book, Bridge to Bat City. The story centers on Opal, a young girl who befriends an orphaned colony of bats—bats that love music. Opal and this eccentric group of bats have a tough time fitting in, but they’re determined to find out where they belong., together, of course. Cline will read from Bridge to Bat City and sign (and personalize!) one book copy for each customer. AARON CARNES
INFO: 5pm, Bookshop Santa Cruz, 1520 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. Free. 423-0900. 

MUSEUM

SOWING SEEDS

After four years of research, the exhibition Sowing Seeds: Filipino American Stories from the Pajaro Valley opens this weekend at the Solari Gallery of the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History. A collaboration between community members, UCSC students, scholars, the Tobera Project and curators with Watsonville is in the Heart (WIITH), the exhibit sheds light on the untold stories of the 100,000 Filipino people who migrated across the Pacific to fill low-wage agricultural jobs at the US government’s behest in the early 1900s. An engaging mixture of oral history, visual art and family archival materials make this an engaging educational activity for the whole family. ADDIE MAHMASSANI

INFO: Noon, Solari Gallery, 705 Front St., Santa Cruz. $10. 429-1964.

COUNTRY

JESSE DANIEL

Hot diggity-damn!! Jesse Daniel returns to the Catalyst this Friday for what’s promising to be another sold-out show. And why shouldn’t it be? The San Lorenzo prodigal son’s star has risen rapidly in recent years. Through blood, sweat, tears and tunes, he—and the lovely Ms. Jodi Lyford, his partner in all things—released all of their music themselves so they can make the music they want without some Nashville corporate suit breathing down their necks. And it’s paid off. Daniel’s latest single, “Workin’ Hard (Day and Night),” is on Dusty Slay’s new Netflix comedy special. His story is just getting started, and it won’t be long until the world says, “Jesse Daniel plays ‘My Kind of Country.’” MAT WEIR

INFO: 9pm, The Catalyst, 1011 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. $27/adv, $32/door. 713-5492.

SATURDAY

AMERICANA

FOX AND BONES

For fans of Americana artists like ZZ Ward and Lake Street Dive, Fox and Bones is a must-see duo. Scott Gilmore’s twangy grit meets Sarah Vitort’s gorgeous tones in clear-eyed, nostalgic songs. This band has been on a roll, winning first place at the 2023 Tucson Folk Festival songwriting contest and founding Portland’s Folk Festival in their hometown. All the hard work doesn’t mean they’re not having fun; a single off their upcoming fourth album, “Digital Wasteland,” comes with a music video in which an enormous gorilla sneaks into their kitchen while they’re preoccupied with scrolling on their phones. AM

 INFO: 8pm, Lille Aeske Arthouse, 13160 Highway 9, Boulder Creek. $25/adv, $30/door. 703-4183.

FOLK

GONE GONE BEYOND

Gone Gone Beyond invites audiences to slow down and dance along as they listen to the folk music of the future—acoustic music fused with electronic elements that blend the traditional with the new. Their sound expands the definition of folk and shoots it out into the cosmos, exploring emotion and experiences via comets and stardust. Show attendees describe their live performance as a spiritual experience as Gone Gone Beyond requests the audience to “slow down, tune in and dance into the stars.” ISABELLA MARIE SANGALINE

INFO: 7:30pm, Felton Music Hall, 6275 Hwy 9, Felton. $27/adv, $32/door. 704-7113.

ROCK

COSMIC CRUZ DEAD FEST

A Venn diagram of Deadheads and Santa Cruz County citizens would have a very meaty center. No town has a more devoted community of Grateful Dead fans, many of whom had the good fortune to meet Jerry Garcia before his ascension from this physical plane of existence. The Cosmic Cruz Dead Fest is the stuff of dreams for such fans, featuring R & B jam band Nugz and two Grateful Dead tribute bands, Aardvark and Dead Roses. It’ll be a night full of peace, love and rock ‘n’ roll—a groovy time for all, with the potential for a little temporary ascension built right in. JI

INFO: 5pm, Veterans Memorial Building, 846 Front St., Santa Cruz. $25/adv, $30/door. 454-0478.

MONDAY

JAZZ

DONNY MCCASLIN QUARTET

One of the most entertaining, surprising acts at the 2023 Monterey Jazz Festival was Santa Cruz native Donny McCaslin and his non-traditional quartet. McCaslin, pianist Jason Lindner, drummer Nate Wood and bassist Tim Lefebvre all made heavy use of electronic effects to stretch their sounds and explore new sonic realms. When McCaslin returns to familiar turf at Kuumbwa, he’ll bring a similar band, with electric bassist Jonathan Maron replacing Lefebre. His career has been on a steady upward arc since his earliest jazz days as a 14-year-old sitting in with his dad, Don McCaslin. McCaslin peaked fame-wise with a shared Grammy win for David Bowie’s final album, Blackstar. But jazz is a lifetime study; McCaslin’s star is burning bright. DE

INFO: 7:30pm, Kuumbwa Jazz Center, 320-2 Cedar St., Santa Cruz. $42/adv, $47.25/door. 427-2227

WEDNESDAY

BENEFIT

BE NATURAL MUSIC SHOW

When it comes to the future of local music, look no further than Be Natural Music. For 26 years, they’ve taught young musicians classical and jazz theory fundamentals, tablature and chord recognition, improvisation and more. They’re kicking off their 2024 donation season with a doubleheader this year. On April 17 and April 25, from 4pm to 8pm, some of Be Natural’s best student rock and jazz bands will lay down the perfect tunes for drinking, dining, and dancing. Appetizers and desserts are encouraged, as Pono will donate 15% of the proceeds to Be Natural Music. For the school to receive the donation, patrons must let the register know they are present for the event. MW

INFO: 4pm, Pono Hawaiian Grill, 120 Union St., Santa Cruz. Free. 621-7448.

Chloe Xtina Watching the Watchers

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Chloe Xtina Watching the Watchers

Chloe Xtina will be shooting a new short film titled “Arcadia” in Santa Cruz in mid-May and hopes to include locals in the production. The 25-year-old theater and film writer/director grew up in Oakland and often visited Santa Cruz.

“Santa Cruz has always been this dark, magical place to me,” Xtina says, “but it also has this very timeless feel that’s slow moving, warm and welcoming.”

Xtina ran a theater company in high school and studied playwriting and film at UCLA. She now lives in Brooklyn, and last summer her play Joan of Arc in a Supermarket in California had a successful Off-Broadway debut.

The 2023 Sundance Ignite x Adobe Fellow previously directed two short films: “Ghost of You” (2023) and “The First Taste” (2020). “Arcadia”—the story of a young woman’s “sexual awakening infused with the precarity of climate collapse”— will feature Logan Miller, Lucy Urbano, Alaska Reid and Maria Dizzia. More information can be found at Chloextina.com.

Tell me about “Arcadia.”

Chloe Xtina: “Arcadia” is a short film about an 18-year-old girl. The summer before she leaves for college, she joins a prestigious theater troupe in the Santa Cruz Mountains. She’s on the hunt for sexual power, and there’s a blurring of the lines between prey and predator.

The film is really about these blurred spaces of being a young woman in an art space, where you’re grasping for your own sexual autonomy, but also dealing with what could be determined as grooming. The lines blur between sexual power and power being abused, but also the autonomous power of a young woman and her sexuality.

I set the story during a dark, rainy summer in Santa Cruz, to have the feel of an ’80s thriller. We’re shooting on 16mm film, which adds to the effect. The dark nostalgia in the film is inspired by these really gritty feminized worlds like that of directors Karyn Kusama, Andrea Arnold and Catherine Hardwicke.

I read that your stories explore “psychosexual gazes, desire and California’s climate crisis through a magical realist lens.”

Throughout my adolescence I was very hypersexualized and a lot of rage built up, nonverbal stuff. It wasn’t in the cultural canon to talk about the feelings or experiences I was having. I realized I could use fantasy and magic as a tool to represent unspoken feelings of rage. I’m really interested in these tiny, isolated moments that happen in a young woman’s life that will forever impact her and blow up into a very sinister effect. So, I started exploring magical realism as a tool to talk about these things.

The climate crisis is also an important part of your stories.

All of my work deals with California’s climate crisis as a backdrop. My last project (“Ghost of You”) took place during fire season and a heatwave. I found the climate crisis is a strange mirror for my own coming of age and my relationship to psychosexual gazes. California is as much a character in my work as the literal characters. This mirror of chaos reflects the experience of not being able to control this gaze upon you as a young woman, and not being able to control the world around you.

When you say “psychosexual gaze,” I’m thinking you mean the way that (mostly) men communicate with you, and the way media sexualizes women to sell products and ideas.

A lot of conversation about the male gaze is about the way women are perceived, but what I’m fascinated with is the way that gaze becomes internalized by women. My last film was about a 16-year-old girl who’s playing at a creek and photographed by a strange man, and she starts having these visions of a ghost in a bedsheet watching her. She manipulates that gaze to try to feel empowered, or to feel like maybe she’s attracted to the ghost.

That was based on my own experience as a teenage girl where I was always picturing men watching me and then being so confused as to why I pictured men watching me. I thought I was crazy. As I spoke more about it, I found it’s a very common phenomenon. Margaret Atwood talks about male fantasies of women literally picturing the voyeur watching them. You’re always thinking about the way you’re being perceived. In “Arcadia” the psychosexual gaze is explored through the main character Juliet, who takes in the sexual exploitation around her and kind of craves it.

Tell me more about the local production of “Arcadia.”

We’re shooting in Santa Cruz May 19 to the 22nd. We’re shooting at Monty’s Log Cabin in Felton for our dive bar scenes and we’re in search of unconventional theater spaces and also a farmhouse. We’re interested in bringing on locals to our project; filmmakers with grip, gaffing or sound experience. We’ll need lots of extras, too. During the pandemic, I reevaluated my work as a filmmaker and created my own model of success. I just want to have a community that I’m proud to have created or impacted, and work I’m proud of.

I like that you have your own model of success. I often wonder how to measure success in feminism in this consumer-driven world that is still white, male dominated? Is it beneficial that women become CEOs of corporations and can now be in combat roles in the US military?

I grew up in a feminist Marxist household and my belief is that capitalism and racism can’t mix with feminism. All the systems intersect. It’s so fascinating you bring this up because I was thinking about how sometimes female directors are encouraged to be more masculine, in order to be taken seriously. I have feminine and masculine qualities and my femininity is really helpful. As a director, it allows me to tap into people and make sure I’m taking care of them. That’s also a huge factor in my model of success; I don’t think I’m successful unless the community I’m working with feels heard, seen and taken care of. But I don’t think female CEOs are the answer.

Listen to this interview on Thursday at noon on KZSC 88.1 FM / kzsc.org on “Transformation Highway.”

Donny McCaslin returns home

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Donny McCaslin returns home

As an elite-level saxophonist and composer, Donny McCaslin plays in many different jazz clubs and other venues all over the world. But Kuumbwa Jazz Center, where he and his quartet will perform on April 15, is the place that inspired him to spend his life playing and writing music.

His return to  his hometown should bring back a flood of memories.

All of his blood family—with the exception of his wife and children—still live around Santa Cruz, including a brother, a sister and their spouses and kids. They are paying their own way into the nonprofit Kuumbwa, he noted proudly.

“Kuumbwa is a very special place for me; I was fortunate to have access to it as a child, so much great music; seeing (drummer) Elvin Jones and the Jazz Machine and McCoy Tyner, a couple weeks later, really changed my life. I really appreciate Tim Jackson and his vision for that place, and how it’s grown. It’s very special to step on that stage and play in front of the community that I grew up with.”

Memories like the weekly gigs his dad, Don McCaslin, would do at the Cooper House—“helping him set up and then sitting on the bandstand all day.” Donny started learning the saxophone at 12, and by 14 was sitting in with combos led by his dad, who was at the center of a jazz scene from  the ’60s to the ’90s.

McCaslin, 57, attended Aptos High School and got an early start with the school’s jazz program, led by veteran musician Don Keller. After high school he attended the prestigious Berklee College of Music and after getting his degree, he joined vibraphonist Gary Burton’s band for four years. In 1991, he relocated to the jazz mecca—New York City.

His career got a boost in 2014 when orchestra leader Maria Schneider recommended him to the late David Bowie. Bowie’s people came to hear McCaslin’s combo play in a Manhattan club “and the next day he emailed me asking to record some music.” In November 2014, McCaslin played saxophone on Bowie’s single “Sue (Or in a Season of Crime).” After that, he played on and contributed arrangements to Bowie’s 2016 swan song album, Blackstar, which won five Grammys.

Bowie’s influence was a major factor in McCaslin taking a major, stylistic turn, when he decided to try foot-pedal-controlled electronics effects to shape his saxophone sound. This effect evolved into being the main thrust of McCaslin’s live shows. “It’s become another tool to expand my sound. I imagine that sound now when I am writing. So, [Bowie] was very prescient.”

McCaslin says the music the band plays this time at Kuumbwa will largely consist of tunes from his most recent release—last year’s I Want More.

Last March, he played Kuumbwa as part of a 40-year reunion of the salsa band he played with as a 16-year old, Los Schleppos Tipicos.

This summer he’ll be playing several festivals overseas, and at the Kennedy Center in NYC with the Bowie tribute orchestra, with 75 pieces and his combo.

“The Bowie experience had a profound effect on my own music,” McCaslin says. “Suddenly, everything felt possible in a way it hadn’t before—hybrid concepts, how to put influences together…everything felt more possible.”

Lately he has also been touring with another iconic pop star,  Elvis Costello. Hardcore jazz purists might not appreciate the nontraditional effects pedals, but being confined by genre “rules” is unhealthy for any creative musician. And McCaslin’s words pretty well sum up what the original creators and movers of jazz roaming the earth have always done, moving the music forward, preventing it becoming a sort of aural museum artifact. Donny McCaslin plays at Kuumbwa Jazz Center at 7pm. Tickets $47.25/$42 adv/$23.50 students. 320-2 Cedar St, Santa Cruz. kuumbwajazz.org

changed this to plural from Tipico

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